With the Greetings of Dawn
by ellumina
Summary: Cloud finally understands why Tifa dragged him away from his work and into bed. Cloud x Tifa


**Disclaimer: **Cloud and Tifa are owned by Square Enix

**With the Greetings of Dawn**

Midnight found Tifa, barely awake, trudging up the stairs in a half-daze, her movements heavy with fatigue and her gaze wavering in her struggle to keep her eyes open for the few minutes it would take to reach her room. But she paused at the top, frowning faintly when a light, chilly draught brushed her cheeks and prickled at her bare arms and sent her hair into a frenzied flight behind her.

It was unusual, unfamiliar at this hour when she would be the only one in the house left awake, and motherly instinct automatically guided her gaze to the children's room. She came to a silent stop at their door, lifted a hand to push it open then sighed and turned around to Cloud's room.

The door was slightly open, a line of dim, yellow light, streaming from inside and when Tifa pushed it open the rest of the way, the windows weren't closed, the lamp at Cloud's desk was turned on, and Cloud was there, his head tucked in the arms he'd crossed over his desk.

She brushed away the initial fear coating her thoughts, paving the way for a compassionate form of guilt to leak through.

Cloud looked so worn out, so exhausted and overworked, that the comfort of having him nearby only served to remind her of how she'd been neglecting him in favor of the bar and the kids. As busy as she was, Cloud was still hers to look after, and Tifa never wanted it any other way. She really hadn't meant to be so careless, but putting up with the restaurant and the kids somehow seemed to distract her from the blue-eyed hero.

Hesitating slightly, she continued to gaze at the blonde, contemplating the cruelty of waking him up compared with that of letting him sleep in a chair and then realized that she wouldn't get any proper sleep until she was sure he would first.

"Cloud?"

She softly when she walked over to the slumbering hero, bending upon reaching him in a futile effort to catch a glimpse of his face beneath his hair. She could tell he had been sleeping for a while, and he was sleeping peacefully and that thought alone did wonders to ease the concern that was beginning to gnaw restlessly at her mind.

Setting a hand onto his shoulder, she used the other to brush back his hair and shook him, running her fingers soothingly down his arm when sleep kept a defiant hold on his mind.

"Hey."

Her voice was low and soft-spoken, but it was _her_ voice and that was enough to stir Cloud's consciousness and pull him out of the dreamless sleep he'd been entertaining.

Tifa stepped back when he lifted his head from his arms, watching the shadows shift across his face and waited for his blinking eyes to focus on her.

Cloud rubbed at his eyes as he leaned back into the chair, taking a few seconds to locate her face in the dark and a few more to enjoy it in the secrecy of the shadows. He shifted then, turning in his chair, and let the faintest hint of a smile curve his lips, waiting for Tifa to speak and hoping that she wouldn't because he really didn't need the distraction when he was putting all his focus and concentration into just memorizing her as she was at that exact moment.

Tifa didn't disappoint him, not immediately and stepped up to him instead, balancing her hands on his knees, kneeling to the ground and tipping her eyes up to him.

"Let's get you to bed, okay?"

He smiled at her, swept her hair back with both hands then leaned down to press his lips to her forehead. The touch lingered for a moment, carrying with it a warm, golden feeling that started in his chest and expanded to every corner of his body, and then Cloud reluctantly pulled back, trailing the backs of his fingers deliberately across her cheeks.

He shook his head and motioned to the papers scattered across the polished wood of his desk. "Go to bed, Tifa."

She shook her head too, mimicking his movement and drew his attention back to her eyes. Gnawing restlessly at her lower lip, she kept her eyes on his, worried and uncertain and read the fatigue in his gaze.

"You can't sleep here."

"I've been worse…"

She shook her head again wincing because as much as he was trying to convince her that it was alright, Tifa seemed to take it the wrong way and Cloud couldn't, for the life of him, understand what had gotten into her.

"Don't work anymore, Cloud." The weary edge in her voice matched the shimmer in her eyes and the hero frowned even as he secretly admired that unfailing strength that she always stashed away for her family. "Finish it tomorr…"

"No." He cut her off with a firmness that startled her. "It's yours."

"Cloud…" she tried to protest, but he touched his fingertips to her lips holding the words back.

"Yours," he repeated.

But Tifa was sighing, already wrapping warm hands around his arm, and she lifted herself to her feet pulling him with her, and Cloud watched her, unable to protest, because this was another moment he had to spend memorizing her face.

He was smiling again as he staggered behind her following the pressure of her pull and held the smile when she yanked at the covers spread messily across his bed and nearly shoved him into it. He didn't protest because he didn't particularly care for breaking that amazing moment, so he just watched her, his gaze bold and unwavering on her face, even as he sank into the mattress under the pressure of her hands.

"Just sleep," she commanded, sitting upon the edge of the bed, her eyes troubled underneath furrowed brows. He didn't understand why the frown was there and part of him really didn't understand why she was there either, taking care of him and pulling him to bed when he was trying to get his work finished.

He was doing it all for her, but Tifa seemed more troubled by that fact than happy and he wasn't sure exactly what he had to do to put her mind to rest.

"We'll figure something out later."

He nodded then, biting down on the protest burning at the back of his tongue and lifted a hand to run his fingertips across her jaw. When she forced a smile out for him, he knew that the desolation inside her ran a little deeper than he was comfortable with.

"Don't worry anymore, Tifa."

Her smile broadened slightly.

"I can't stop," she told him. "Just go to bed. It'll make me feel better."

Cloud wanted to protest but her eyes were shining and her hair was swaying and the moonlight kept shifting upon her porcelain skin, painting her face in a dancing glow, and Cloud was too busy, too preoccupied in learning those shadows on her face, and the curve of her lips and the arch of her eyebrows at that exact moment, needing to stash that beautiful image away in his memory with the countless others that held her face.

It was an amazing experience and an exhausting one and as Tifa sat there at the edge of the bed, waiting for him to sleep, it was becoming increasingly difficult to disappoint her.

"I'm sorry, Cloud," he barley heard her murmur, smiling faintly when he felt the quick brush of her lips against his forehead.

Dimly, he was aware of her weight leaving the bed, of the soft footsteps that carried her to the window, of the rustle of the drapes and then her footsteps again as she headed to his desk no doubt to turn the lamp off.

He smiled faintly, waiting for the sound of the door clicking shut when she left the room and fell asleep too soon, vaguely aware that he wouldn't get to hear it.

Neither would Tifa.

* * *

When morning came, it wasn't as merciful as it should have been. It streamed through the window and onto his face, the faint light rudely intruding upon the dreams behind his eyelids. Cloud groaned softly, kicking at the covers before he could open his eyes to the light in the room. When he sat up, he did it abruptly, remembering that today was his day off and the children were eager to have him and Tifa take them outside.

When he glanced out the window, the sky was still on fire and the sun was barley peeking out from behind the mountains in the distance. He frowned, unsure of why he'd woken up so early despite the late night sleep.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and pushed back his hair, fluidly getting up. And then he stilled and he sighed and he smiled apologetically at the oblivious beauty sleeping undisturbed on his desk, face hidden beneath a waterfall of dark hair, underneath the glow of the lamp that had been on all night long.

For a moment he gazed at her in concern, confusion and comprehension swirling together in his mind, and little threads of understanding began to swerve together till he was seeing the same picture and feeling the same feelings she'd experienced just a few hours ago.

And for once, it wasn't so hard to understand why she was so adamant on moving him into bed last night.

He felt a pang of guilt inside him driven by a familiar protectiveness and realized that anything could paint that exhaustion on Tifa's face and he would still hold himself responsible. Tifa was simply his and that made her his to look after and protect and fight for.

And Cloud had wanted that since he was a little boy.

Tifa didn't stir when Cloud tried to wake her up, not when he shook her shoulder, or when he ran his hand through her hair, not even when he ran his fingers gently across her jaw. But she stirred, slowly dismissing the haze of sleep when Cloud tipped his head up and pressed his lips shamelessly against hers.

He startled her but not enough for her eyes to open and she half-smiled instead, pushing his face away from hers with the palm of her hand.

"Is it morning yet?" she mumbled sleepily.

Cloud kissed her again, shushing her as he gathered her into his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the papers he'd been pouring over the previous night stacked neatly together, a detailed schedule of next week's deliveries set on top of them written in the tidy cursive of her handwriting.

The frown touched his face before he could stop it, but inside his heart was fluttering in his chest filling him with a warm feeling he hadn't experienced since he'd promised to be the hero of the girl in his arms.

"Not yet," he murmured softly, touching his lips to her hair as he turned towards the bed.

"You're lying," she mumbled burrowing into his shoulder and wrapping slender arms around his neck but the smile Cloud offered for a response was lost when her eyes slid shut and her breathing slowed. "The kids…."

"Sleep, Tifa," he said softly, laying her down onto his bed, spreading the comforter over her, smiling when she curled up and cuddled into the pillow. "It's too early."

He waited with her till she fell asleep lulled by his breath against her cheek and his fingers in her hair, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead one last time.

"Thank you, Tifa."

Dimly, she was aware of his weight leaving the bed, of the soft footsteps that carried him to the window, of the rustle of the drapes and then his footsteps again as he headed to his desk no doubt to turn the lamp off.

She smiled faintly, waiting for the sound of the door clicking shut when he left the room and fell asleep too soon, vaguely aware that she wouldn't get to hear it.

Neither would Cloud.

* * *


End file.
